Poor Puppy

I had a very emotional week this week with my poor little puppy, Avery. He just really didn't seem himself after I got back from the Fair. He was lethargic, he didn't want to eat or drink, and the worst sign was that he didn't want to play! If you've met Avery, you know he could play fetch with his toys 23 hours a day, just taking an hour break for eating, peeing, and napping. I knew something was really wrong. Avery's ears and tail were down, and he was just looking at me with the saddest pleading expression. Wednesday, I took him to the vet. His white count was very low, and he was running a fever. The vet decided to do an x-ray the next day. A "density" was discovered in the area of his pancreas. My vet said it could be an acute infection that had so far not responded to antibiotics (he'd been on them for 24 hours at this point), or... !!! Let's just say that if it were pancreatic cancer, that diagnosis is just as bad in the dog world as in the human world.

Thursday, he was no better. They gave him IV nutrition and antibiotics. I took him home because I couldn't bear the thought of him spending the night there. I was facing some scary decisions. I had some options of going to Cedar Rapids and trying an ultrasound and more extensive testing. Not fun.

Friday morning, my vet came in on his day off and gave Avery more IV antibiotic and fluids. He also fed him some critical care canned dog food which was the first food Avery had really eaten since Sunday. I went to work preparing for the worst...

Friday afternoon, I picked Avery up from the vet, and he had his ears up, and his tail was wagging. He jumped excitedly when he saw me... a spark of life!!! My vet and I decided to watch him over the weekend to see how he does before we make any more decisions. On Friday night, he brought his toy for Andrew and me to throw. Hallelujah! The weekend has shown steady improvement. He's been eating (even a little dry dog food in addition to the canned), drinking, and playing. He's still pretty tired, but he has his old happy expression back. I am guardedly optimistic that it was just a pancreatic infection, and it's getting under control. Thank you, Dr. Wiegert, for being the best vet ever and helping Avery (and me) through this scary time. We may not be out of the woods yet, but I'm just so glad he's feeling better!